Border Patrol seizes over $1 million worth of pot
Loaned photo
Bust 1

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents found a tan Chevrolet pickup truck hidden under a camouflage tarp (seen here) that contained 50 bundles of pot, weighing a combined 1,079 pounds, worth an estimated $539,500. A separate truck with a similar amount of pot was found nearby.




Posted: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 7:40 pm | Updated: 8:03 pm, Tue Aug 26, 2014.
From staff reports

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents seized over $1 million worth of marijuana and arrested three suspected drug smugglers during two separate incidents this weekend.

While searching for a vehicle suspected of being involved in illegal activity near Sentinel, agents assigned to the Wellton Station found a silver Chevrolet pickup truck containing 48 bundles of pot that weighed a combined 1,132 pounds worth an estimated $566,000.

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Office of Air and Marine helicopter conducting surveillance of the area reported a second vehicle nearby. Agents responded and found a tan Chevrolet pickup truck hidden under a camouflage tarp that contained 50 bundles of pot, weighing a combined 1,079 pounds, worth an estimated $539,500.

Some of the bundles were marked with the letter "V," possibly indicating the smuggling organization behind the attempt.

"Different smuggling organizations will put their mark or their sign on the drug load," explained Agent Douglas Choi of the Yuma Sector Public Affairs Office.

Border Patrol officials have not commented on what organization the mark may be associated with.

There have been a growing amount of drug seizures made in eastern Yuma County, Choi added, noting the interdiction efforts of the Border Patrol have a direct impact on the income of Mexican Cartels.

The money generated through smuggling operations is used "to fund and fuel the criminal organizations down in Mexico, so we are doing our job to combat that."

The three suspected smugglers and marijuana were turned over to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, while the two vehicles were seized by the Border Patrol.

http://www.yumasun.com/news/border-p...7a43b2370.html